Brasov

Brasov (pronounced BRAH-shov) is an industrial city in Transylvania, but the old Medieval city center was untouched by the wars of the previous century and is wonderfully restored. Although archaeologists have found evident of human settlement here dating back 9000 years, it was established as a trading center settled by Saxon merchants in the 13th century. 

At that time it bore the name Kronstadt, and was a key center for trade between Vienna and Istanbul. Most of the old Saxon families fled from the communists and went back to Germany. Briefly named "Stalin City" in the 1950s, the Romanian name comes from the nearby Brasov River.

Our day began with a bus ride up the "mountain" (large, steep hill) to a scenic overlook. Because there is so much smog hanging over the city, we could have skipped that. Then the bus brought us back for a walking tour of the old town.

The key landmark in the old city is the "Black Church," which got its name -- possibly -- from a great fire that swept the city in 1689. Or from industrial pollution in the 19th century. In any case, it's no longer black. The church is one of the largest Gothic structures in Eastern Europe, and became a Lutheran congregation as a result of the Reformation in the 1540s.

The reformer who led that transition was a guy named Johann Hanterus, who has a statue outside the church. Our tour leader tried to tell us that old Johann was a personal friend of Martin Luther, but the dates and places are wrong, and when asked by the town council to create a theological statement, he appears to have been unaware of the Augsburg Confession or many of Luther's writings.

The church, however, still functions as a congregation of Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania.

When we visited, the organist was practicing and we got a free concert, despite noisy tourists. There are actually four organs in the church, though it appears that only the largest and newest one (from the 1850s) is actually functioning.

An interesting feature of the church is the collection of oriental rugs hung on the walls. There were Turkish imports that were used as funeral palls for wealthy merchants, then donated to the church as memorials. It's actually one of the largest collections of genuine Turkish rugs in the world.

While the Black Church dominates the old town, it is surrounded by Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The Hungarian population is mostly Roman Catholic, which Romanians tend to be Orthodox.

After a bit of a break for lunch, we took a hike along a trail through a wooded park on a hillside above the old city. The path was mostly paved, but in some areas gravel.

The path took us to the "White Tower," a watchtower that was placed outside the old city walls to prevent invaders from sneaking up on the city from above. The tower remains white, except for the graffiti.

Farther along we came to the "Black Tower," which served the same purpose, although it had a different architecture and was built of different materials. Like the Black Church that it overlooks, the Black Tower is no longer black.

Both towers offer a panoramic view of the old town.

We returned on a lower path that runs just outside of the old city wall which is cleverly named, "Strada dupa ziduri" -- which translates as, "The street behind the walls."

All of that hiking on a hot day made us thirsty, so we continued to the old town square and enjoyed a local beer at an outdoor cafe. We had hoped for some good people watching, but it was too hot for many people to be out. We wound up reading books on a bench in a nicely shaded park near our hotel for a while.

We returned to the square later, however, for a bowl of soup for dinner. It was excellent soup, and there were more people to watch in the cool of the evening.